FHA and VA mortgages tend to have sharply different prepayment rates but they're put together in Ginnie MBS, potentially penalizing FHA borrowers.

Since mid-2022, the agency has been gaining servicing share with lenders turning to FHA mortgages and loans through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The flow of refinances declined 21.5% on a monthly basis to $8.90 billion in July.

“Gravity is being tested,” said Mark Garland, a managing director at SitusAMC.

“As we take the next steps to quickly and responsibly implement a VA partial claim program, we expect servicers to continue to offer Veterans a full array of loss mitigation options,” VA’s loan guaranty service said.

Loans one payment past due increased 19 basis points during the second quarter, after declining during the first quarter.

The largest servicing gains in the past year were in servicing for Ginnie Mae, whole loans at nonbanks and in non-agency mortgage-backed securities.

Ted Tozer, a fellow at the Urban Institute and former Ginnie president, said he expects the volume of buydowns in custom single-family pools to explode as lenders take advantage of the rule change.

Beginning June 16, custom single-family pools in the Ginnie II program won’t be subject to the 10% concentration limit on mortgages with buydowns.

Lenders turned down 24.5% of VA refi applications in 2024, compared with 37.3% in the previous year.